Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS) Shares Sold by Abacus FCF Advisors LLC

Abacus FCF Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Masco Co. (NYSE:MAS) by 29.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 35,323 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 14,993 shares during the period. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in Masco were worth $2,456,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Masco by 69.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 13,110 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $912,000 after buying an additional 5,378 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its position in Masco by 3.3% in the first quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 16,475 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,146,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in Masco by 4.6% in the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 40,342 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,805,000 after purchasing an additional 1,786 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its position in Masco by 4.9% in the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 4,472 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $311,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Masco by 9.1% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,973 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $207,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MAS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Masco from $82.00 to $71.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Masco from $65.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Masco from $82.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating on shares of Masco in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Masco from $64.00 to $62.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.63.

Masco Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of MAS opened at $63.76 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.74, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.01. Masco Co. has a 1-year low of $56.55 and a 1-year high of $86.70. The stock has a market cap of $13.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.19.

Masco (NYSE:MAS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.05). Masco had a return on equity of 838.32% and a net margin of 10.50%. The business had revenue of $1.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.93 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Masco Co. will post 4.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Masco Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 9th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. Masco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.88%.

About Masco

Masco Corporation designs, manufactures, and distributes home improvement and building products in North America, Europe, and internationally. The company's Plumbing Products segment offers faucets, showerheads, handheld showers, valves, bath hardware and accessories, bathing units, shower bases and enclosures, sinks, toilets, acrylic tubs, shower trays, spas, exercise pools, and fitness systems; brass, copper, and composite plumbing system components; connected water products; thermoplastic solutions, extruded plastic profiles, specialized fabrications, and PEX tubing products; and other non-decorative plumbing products.